EX-SLCC HOOP STAR ARRESTED

Two stars of the University of Massachusetts basketball team and a recruit for the team were arrested early today in connection with a house burglary.

Duane Chase, 21, and David Brown, 22, both of Baltimore, Md., were arrested at 3 a.m. when a police officer spotted them driving without headlights in the wrong direction down a one-way street, said Sgt. Timothy Sullivan of the Amherst force.With them was George Andre Hardin, 21, of Salt Lake City, a recruit for the team, who also was arrested, Sullivan said. Hardin is a former Salt Lake Community College standout. Sullivan said the three are to be arraigned today on burglary charges in District Court in Northampton. Brown also faces motor vehicle offenses and a charge of driving with no headlights and a suspended license, Sullivan said.

Coach John Calipari said the two senior starters for the UMass team have been suspended indefinitely. Chase is a center and Brown a forward for the team, which is scheduled to play tonight against West Virginia.

Sullivan said Patrolman Jerry Millar chased the car holding the three men when he spotted it coming out of the one-way street.

During the chase, Millar heard on his police radio that a woman had reported her portable stereo missing in an apparent burglary of her Amity Street home just a few minutes earlier, the sergeant said. He said Millar found a stereo matching the description in the car, along with a microwave oven, a camera and crowbars and screwdrivers.